The Wedding
by Lord Mesron
Summary: Sequel to The Engagement. Our three couples get married, eventually.


+ Disclaimer - The characters in the following story that have been borrowed from the show Kung Fu: The Legend Continues do not belong to me. They are the property of Michael Sloan and Warner Brothers.  
  
+ This story picks up approximately three months after "The Engagement" left off.  
  
The Wedding  
  
by Scott R. Barnett  
  
Since their engagement only three months ago, there had been a few changes in the lives of Karen Simms and Kermit Griffin. One of those changes involved their mutual employment by the Sloanville Police Department. Shortly after their engagement Kermit and Karen discussed several different scenarios to resolve the problem of Karen being Kermit's superior officer at the 101st precinct. They had discussed one of them transferring to another precinct, but neither of them really liked the idea of leaving the 101st to move to another command. They had to come up with a solution soon as the rules stated that their situation was not acceptable and Commissioner Kincaid was not going to make an exception for them. It was Paul Blaisdell that finally came up with a resolution to their problem. One night while they were having dinner over at the Blaisdell residence Paul had stated that he was getting somewhat bored in his retirement. A year ago when had had returned after two years of fighting his demons he had told his family and friends that he was home for good. He had previously retired from the Sloanville Police Department and now had tendered his resignation with the federal government. He told them that he would accept no more missions. He wished to spend more time with his family.  
  
Now he was getting bored. Having spent most of his life moving from one adventure to another he was getting bored with nothing to do. He had talked to Annie about this and they had come up with an idea. He now needed to approach Kermit about it. Knowing of the problem that Karen and Kermit were facing this, he thought that Annie's and his idea would solve both of their problems. He suggested to Kermit that he leave the police force and join him as a partner in their own private detective agency. They could talk to the mayor, who was a friend of Paul's, about assisting the police in cases that would benefit from their expertise, or where the police found their hands tied due to the legal system.  
  
The four of them discussed this for a few hours after dinner and all agreed on it. They would call it Blaisdell & Griffin Investigations. They hoped to get an office near the 101st precinct, as they wanted that precinct to be their main link with the police department. Paul made a quick call to the mayor's house and setup a meeting with her and the police commissioner tomorrow morning. Kermit would tender his resignation with the Commissioner prior to the meeting. Karen would accompany him to the Commissioner's office. Afterwards all three of them would see the mayor and commissioner about this idea. Karen would join them, as she wanted to get the commissioner to agree to her being the liaison between the police and them. If all went well at the meeting they would go office hunting in the afternoon and hoped to be up and running in just a few days.  
  
The next day finds Paul, Kermit and Karen at city hall, outside the mayor's office.  
  
Paul walks up to the mayors secretary, "Excuse me Mary, we have an appointment with the mayor."  
  
Mary looked down at her calendar and then up at Paul, "Oh, hi Captain Blaisdell. I haven't seen you around here in quite a while. Please go on into the conference room. Her honor will be with you in a moment."  
  
"Thank you Mary, but it is no longer Captain. I retired a couple of years ago." With that they walked into the conference room and sat down. A few minutes later both the mayor and the police commissioner joined them.  
  
"Good morning Paul", said the mayor.  
  
"Good morning Stacey, please let me introduce my companions to you. This is Captain Karen Simms of the 101st precinct, my replacement, and Mr. Kermit Griffin."  
  
"Good to see you again Captain Simms, and good to meet you Mr. Griffin. I understand from Commissioner Kincaid here that you used to be a detective at the 101st and that you just tendered your resignation with him ten minutes ago?"  
  
"Yes that is correct. You see, Captain Simms and I are engaged to be married and we felt it was better if one of us changed employment. That is why we are here today. I will let Paul explain."  
  
"Congratulations to you both," said the mayor. "Congratulations from me as well," said Commissioner Kincaid.  
  
Paul turned to the mayor and commissioner, "Well with the introductions out of the way, let's get down to the purpose of our meeting. Kermit and I plan to open up a private detective agency here in Sloanville. With the city's agreement and cooperation we would like to model our agency after one that was recently setup in Washington, D.C. The one in D.C. is run by a couple of former FBI agents and they specialize in working with the FBI in solving some of the more difficult cases, or ones where the FBI finds their hands tied due to the legal system that they have to work under. We would like to setup a similar arrangement here in Sloanville with the Sloanville Police Department. We are not interested in going into a precinct and taking over an active case, but working with the department jointly to solve it. Also, we thought that we could help out on some of the cold cases that you have. Kermit and I have a lot of experience to offer, not just from our time with the police department. We both also used to work for the CIA. For security reasons, please keep that piece of information to yourselves."  
  
"Well, this is an interesting proposition that you have brought to us Mr. Blaisdell," said the mayor. "What are your thoughts on this Commissioner?"  
  
"I think that the idea has merit. I have a friend at the FBI in D.C. and he had told me about this arrangement that Mr. Blaisdell just mentioned. My friend stated that it is really working out well for them. I would like to recommend to you that we give this a try here in Sloanville. Though I am the Police Commissioner, I will admit here in this meeting that there are some cases that come up where such help could come in handy to solve them that much quicker. Also, any help that we can get on closing some of the cold cases would be much appreciated. Knowing of Mr. Blaisdell's and Mr. Griffin's reputations in the department, I believe that this partnership could benefit the city quite well."  
  
The mayor turned to the commissioner and said, "I agree with your assessment Commissioner. Mr. Blaisdell, Mr. Griffin please meet with Commissioner Kincaid to iron out the terms of the arrangement. I have another meeting to attend in a few minutes, but I will review the terms that you come to this afternoon. We can sign an agreement at that time if everyone is in agreement. Please let the commissioner know how to get in touch with you. Before I go though, I wanted to know why you were here at this meeting Captain Simms. I understand that you are engaged to Mr. Griffin, but my guess is that there is another reason that you attended."  
  
Karen leaned forward in her chair and said, "Yes your Honor, there is. As it appears that this arrangement is going to come to fruition, I wanted to request of the Commissioner that he assigns the 101st precinct as the main contact with this new detective agency. Before you say anything Commissioner, no this is not because I will be married to one of the partners. I believe that my request will assist everyone involved. You have to admit that the 101st gets more than its share of cases of the kind that these two men are prepared to offer assistance with. Also, I believe that the partnership with the city will run smoother with the 101st involved considering that both men used to work there. Kermit was a detective at the 101st for many years and has a very good working relationship with all of my officers. As for Paul, well as you know he was my predecessor as Captain of the precinct. He is still much loved and respected by the officers that served under him, which includes the majority of the ones still serving there, especially in the detective ranks."  
  
As the mayor was getting up from her chair she said to the commissioner, "I will leave that request up to you Kincaid, but it sounds very reasonable to me."  
  
With that the mayor left for her next meeting and Captain Simms left to report in at the precinct. This left Paul and Kermit to negotiate with the commissioner.  
  
It was one o'clock before they heard back from the mayor about the agreement. The mayor asked them to come to her office. She agreed to the terms that they had ironed out earlier that morning and she signed the agreement.  
  
After Paul and Kermit left city hall they drove to the office building across from the 101st and talked to the building management about leasing an office suite that they had looked at that morning.  
  
After they signed the lease agreement and had the keys they went up to the office and started making phone calls to order the various furniture, equipment and supplies that they would need. The suite comprised of a reception area with several rooms off of it. They included two private offices, a room that they could use for conferences and another they could use for files and supplies. There was also a small kitchenette and a bathroom.  
  
Paul let Kermit handle the computers, telephones and other electronics they would need, while he took care of the rest. He also started looking for a receptionist/secretary/file clerk. He lucked out pretty quickly in that area. It turned out that a secretary that he used to know at the CIA was leaving the agency and moving to Sloanville. She was hoping to get a new job here. Paul asked her to stop by and they would talk to her. By five o'clock all of the ordering was completed and they had interviewed and hired their new secretary, Janet Wilson. All of the equipment and furniture would arrive tomorrow and they would be open for business starting the day after that.  
  
As Paul and Kermit walked out of the building, Paul turned to Kermit and said, "Why don't we stop over at the precinct and give Karen the good news."  
  
"Good idea, besides I have to box up my personal items in my old office there." said Kermit.  
  
After they talked to Karen for a few minutes behind closed doors Kermit then went into his office to pack. When he was done he came out and said good-bye to everyone. Karen had not announced his resignation earlier, so everyone was just hearing about it now. There were quite a few questions as to what he would be doing now, but he managed to evade those questions. Paul and him had decided to wait until tomorrow to announce their presence. A memo would be going out tomorrow to all the precinct commanders explaining about it, including how to reach them. Also, Karen had setup a meeting for tomorrow morning with them and her squad of detectives to explain it to them.  
  
The next morning found Paul and Kermit once again entering the 101st. While they walked down to the conference room they were talking.  
  
"Man Kermit, I am just getting too old to be drinking the night away." said Paul ruefully. There had been an impromptu party at Delancey's last night due to Kermit's resignation from the force. Kermit just chuckled at this comment.  
  
When they walked into the conference room they found Peter and Caine there as well as all of the detectives and Karen.  
  
Karen got up and ushered them forward announcing to her people, "Ladies and gentleman I would like to introduce to you Blaisdell & Griffin Investigations. They have formed a partnership with the city to help out the police force on some of our more difficult cases. They will also be looking into some of our cold cases."  
  
Paul stood up and said, "Before I hear a lot of griping about us coming in here and taking over your cases I want to make it clear to you that that is not what we wish to do. We want to work with you as partners. We will be available to work with any precinct, though this one will be our main contact with the force. Our new offices are located directly across the street."  
  
Karen got up again and said, "The procedures set down for this are that you will exhaust all resources that you have before we consider bringing these gentleman in. While there may be times that we will bring them in earlier, they will normally only get involved if the case is headed for the cold case file. Either the Chief or myself will make all decisions involved in bringing them in. Is this understood?"  
  
All of the detectives nodded their affirmatives.  
  
Karen then looked at Peter and Caine and said to the group at large, "I asked Peter and Caine to be here today as they have kind of been our unofficial consultants on and off over the past several years. I thought that they should hear about this new arrangement. We will still probably seek them out as well when the need arises. There are some cases that crop up every now and then in Chinatown where their specific expertise will still be needed."  
  
Everyone smiled at that. They were all aware of what the Captain was referring to.  
  
About six months had past. Blaisdell & Griffin Investigations had turned into a roaring success. They were able to help the police solve several high profile cases, as well as close a few of the cold ones.  
  
During that time another interesting development had taken place. Peter and Caine stated teaching Kung Fu to some new students. But these were not just any students. They were their future wives, as well as Karen and Kermit. The three women had been talking at work about how their lives had changed since Caine had arrived in Chinatown six years ago.  
  
flashback   
  
"I remember how the worst thing that I had to deal with as a detective was a serial killer. There was never any hint of Triads, Sing Wah or demons." said Karen.  
  
Mary Margaret laughed and said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. But you can't say it's been boring."  
  
"Hell, I've been wondering if we shouldn't require all rookies to take Kung Fu classes before starting here. At least then they would have a fighting chance." said Karen.  
  
Everyone laughed at that. Then Jody got this thoughtful look on her face.  
  
"What's up Jody?" said Skalaney.  
  
"Well to tell you the truth I had been thinking of exactly that. I have been thinking for quite awhile of learning some more hand to hand combat for mainly the reasons that we were just laughing about. I don't know if I'd ever be as good as Peter or Caine, who have been practicing it most of their lives, but I would like to learn some so that I don't feel so useless when these types of situations happen." said Jody.  
  
All three women just sat there for a moment and thought about Jody's statement. Truthfully there were times when they all felt like they had to take a back seat to Peter or Caine in such a situation. Not that they ever complained. They were all professional enough to recognize when they were out of their league and had to let others with the necessary expertise take over.  
  
Karen turned to them and said, "Do you think Peter or Caine would be willing to teach us some?"  
  
"To quote a friend, Oh Yeah! Both Peter and Caine are teachers at heart. Give them a willing student and they will work with them for hours." said Skalaney.  
  
"Ok, who's using my line in here?" said a grinning Kermit. Behind him were Caine and Peter. They were meeting the three women for lunch.  
  
"What's going on in here? What is this about students?" asked Peter.  
  
Jody walked over to her fiancé and said, "Well, we were just discussing some of the stranger cases that we have encountered and it came up that maybe we felt we could use some training in certain areas. We were wondering if you and Caine were willing to take on some new students?"  
  
"Are you serious? What you ask is no light undertaking. It will not be easy." asked Caine  
  
"Yes we're serious." said Mary Margaret.  
  
"Then we would be honored to teach all three of you." said Peter.  
  
"Make that four, Peter. It's about time that I learned a little of what you can do as well. Heck, I've been showing you my tricks for several years now." said Kermit.  
  
end of flashback   
  
Tonight found Kermit and Karen having dinner with Peter, Caine, Jody and Mary Margaret over at the Peter's apartment in the Caine building. They had started having dinner together once a week. It had quickly become a tradition, with a different couple hosting it each week. Most of the meals they had did not include any meat in deference to Caine. He did not eat meat by choice. If they did have meat, then something else was prepared separately for Caine. Others eating it did not offend him, he just chose not to.  
  
The wedding was scheduled for next month. All three couples would be getting married at the same time, with Lo Si officiating. All the details had been finalized and the invitations had long been sent out. Both the ceremony and the reception were going to be held at the Sutton Place Hotel.  
  
After dinner they all sat around the living room and talked. Kermit, though, had looked like he had something on his mind all evening. A private man by nature, he appeared reluctant to ask something. While the others were talking around them Peter turned to him and asked him what was bothering him.  
  
"I don't know Peter. I just don't know. I think that I may be losing it" said Kermit. "Ever since you started teaching us Kung Fu and other Shaolin techniques I have been having these dreams."  
  
At this point everyone else had tuned into their conversation.  
  
"What are the dreams about? Are they nightmares?"  
  
Karen turned to Kermit with a worried look on her face. "What dreams are you talking about? You didn't mention any to me."  
  
"I know honey. I didn't want to worry you if they turned out to be nothing." said Kermit. Turning back to Peter he said, "They started out innocent enough, but strange. I saw myself standing in a large room. There were banners with Chinese writing on them hanging about. There was this black cauldron smoking near some stairs and lots of candles all around. I appear to be wearing what I can only describe as yellowish looking robes. I usually wake up at that point."  
  
Peter and Caine looked at each other with wide eyes. Kermit saw the look and turned to them, "What is it that you see in this dream?"  
  
Peter turned back to him, "Well, what you just described was the great hall of the Shaolin Temple that I grew up in in Braniff, CA. The robes sound as if they are the Saffron robes of a Shaolin priest. As for why you are seeing these images, I do not know."  
  
Everyone kind of looked like they were at a loss for words.  
  
Eventually Caine turned to Kermit and asked him, "What are your more recent dreams about?"  
  
Kermit looked a little hesitant to speak. Finally, as if coming to a decision he took off his sunglasses and quietly said, "Well, I started getting these dreams about grisly murders a couple of weeks ago. It was if I was seeing the murder happen, but could not do anything about it. They kind of reminded me of those visions Peter gets on occasion."  
  
Kermit closed his eyes briefly and shuddered. This was beginning to scare some of them as they had never seen Kermit get so emotional like this. He then opened his eyes and continued. "The scary part about this is that the four of them that I have had over the last two weeks appear to match four murders that Karen told me about. Evidently Chin and Kincaid have got four murders that are baffling them. There does not appear to be a link between them, except that they all were killed in a similar fashion. The victims' hearts appear to be cut out. The strangest part is that each murder was found the day after I had the dream."  
  
Peter turned to Caine and said, "These really do sound like those visions that I have on occasion. How can this be possible father? Kermit is not Shaolin."  
  
Caine got that thoughtful look on his face that he gets when contemplating something important. "I do not know my son, but you are correct. They do appear to be visions and not just dreams."  
  
Then he turned back to Kermit and said, "I will talk to Lo Si tomorrow about his and seek his advise on it. In the meantime we can focus your lessons on controlling these visions. There are Shaolin techniques that Peter has recently learned that allow you to take control of such visions and be able to determine just what is happening. Most visions happen before the event that is shown takes place. This way you might be able to contact the police to stop it before it happens."  
  
Kermit looked kind of relieved at this.  
  
Karen the then asked Caine, "Do these types of murders mean anything to either you or Peter? Are they ritual in any way to some particular group?"  
  
"They do not remind me of anything at the moment, but I will meditate on it. I will also ask Lo Si about it." said Caine.  
  
"Thank you." said Karen. "Well I think it is time for Kermit and I to take our leave of you this evening. Unfortunately we have to work tomorrow and it is getting a little late."  
  
"Before you go I wanted to pass along some comments that I received yesterday. Lo Si and Master Kahn had observed our class yesterday, at my request, and wished to pass along their thoughts on your performance in it. They were both very pleased with how far all four of you have come in such a short period of time. Peter and I agree with their assessment. All four of you have done extremely well in your Kung Fu, as well as your meditation classes. There is still a lot to learn, but you are doing very well. Do not be discouraged when I tell you there is still a lot to learn, the Shaolin believe that you only stop learning when you die. There is always something out there that is new to you. Even as Peter and I are teaching you we are also learning."  
  
Everyone expressed their gratitude for the comments and then said their goodnights.  
  
The next day brought several revelations and surprises. That morning found Peter and Caine sitting at the outdoor cafe' that they liked. They could usually be found here each morning with Lo Si drinking tea and watching the hustle and bustle that was Chinatown. This morning was a little unusual though. While Lo Si was usually the first to arrive, this morning he was nowhere's to be found when they got there. They sat down and ordered their tea while they waited for him. Thirty minutes had passed and he still had not shown up. This was very strange. They decided to go over to his house to see if there was a problem.  
  
When they arrived at his house they found the door wide open. While this was not abnormal, they both got a feeling that something was not right. They carefully slipped into the house and were brought up short. Lo Si was lying on the ground in his living room with Kermit standing over him. Lo Si appeared to be unconscious.  
  
Peter walked over to Kermit to ask him what was going on.  
  
Kermit turned to him and said, "I had one of those dreams this morning. This time I dreamed that the victim was The Ancient. Remembering what you said about the dreams happening before the actual event I raced over here to try to stop the attack. When I got here someone dressed all in black was bent over Lo Si. I pulled out my gun and ordered the man to stand back. Instead the man said something about no longer needing the old one and ran past me out the door. I decided to check on The Ancient instead of giving chase. As you can see he appears to be out cold and I have not been able to wake him. This was all about twenty minutes ago. I called an ambulance."  
  
Caine knelt down next to The Ancient and examined him. He then pulled some herbs out of his pouch and forced them into Lo Si's mouth. A few seconds later Lo Si started coming to. At about that time the ambulance arrived, but Caine assured them that all was well and they would not be needed. He then went and brewed a tea for Lo Si and gave it to him to drink.  
  
"This will replenish your chi my old friend. It will also purge your system of the drugs that the attacker gave you." said Caine.  
  
At that moment Jody and Mary Margaret arrived. "We got a call that said that an ambulance was called for The Ancient . What's going on here? What's this about drugs?" said Jody. These days Jody and Mary Margaret were regular partners.  
  
Caine explained to them that Lo Si had been attacked. During that attack he had been drugged. Kermit had stopped the attack from going any further and Caine had purged the drugs from Lo Si's body.  
  
Lo Si turned to them and said, "Please call your captain and ask her to come here. We must talk about this attack and the other four that have happened in the last couple of weeks. Kermit, my friend, thank you for saving my life. Could you please also contact Paul Blaisdell as well and ask him to join us."  
  
About ten minutes later both Captain Simms and Paul Blaisdell had arrived. Lo Si had refused to say anymore until their arrival.  
  
"Please follow me." said Lo Si.  
  
They went down into the basement of the house. Peter and Caine helped Lo Si setup some candles and incense pots in a circle around them. They then lit them. Once everyone was inside the circle Lo Si started to speak.  
  
"Thank you all for coming so quickly. I know who is behind these murders that you have had these last two weeks, as well as who attacked me and why they left before killing me. It is the Chinese secret police. The people that were killed were involved in the care of our emperor, Sing Ling. The Chinese government is very afraid of the emperor. He is a focal point for the movement against their regime. They wish to abduct the emperor and prosecute him for treason in China. He would of course be found guilty and then summarily, and publicly, executed. We cannot allow this to happen. Unfortunately, they may already have him. If they did not kill me, then this may be the reason. I of course would give them no information, even though they tried to get me to under the influence of drugs. The cutting out of hearts is a ritual type of killing. It is done to traitors. In this regime's eyes we who protect the emperor are traitors. The fact that Kermit got here in time to stop them helped, but their comment about not needing me would indicate that they have some how found the location of the emperor. This circle has protected us and our words, but we must now go quickly to check on the emperor and try to stop them from kidnapping him."  
  
They all rushed out and got into the various cars that were there. Lo Si got into the car with Kermit and Peter. They led the way to an old estate on the outskirts of Chinatown. The gate to the estate was sitting wide open. When they got there all they found were a number of dead or unconscious guards. Suddenly they we surrounded by a group of men with guns. Their group started to draw their guns or drop into fighting stances when Lo Si shouted "Stop!!!"  
  
At that point the leader of the group came forward, took of his facemask and bowed to Lo Si. He then turned to rest of the group, after signaling for his men to lower their weapons. Everyone gasped when they saw who it was. It was Chan. This was the man that Peter and Caine had fought against when he had worked for Tan. He had shot Peter one of those times. Later on though he had helped Caine to rescue two women from Li Sung.  
  
Chan turned back to Lo Si and said, "The secret police have the emperor. We did not get here in time. We must put together a group to rescue him once they get him to China. It is too late to try to get to him here in the U.S."  
  
"I agree with your assessment, Agent Chan." said Lo Si.  
  
Everyone stared at them. It was obvious that there was more to this than met the eye.  
  
Paul stepped forward and spoke to Chan, "What are you doing here? The last time we heard about you you were assisting Li Sung with his gun running operation. Before that you had worked for Tan."  
  
Chan smiled and said, "Well that is not entirely true. You see I am an undercover agent with the CIA. Yes, I know about your contacts with them, but the department I work for does not officially exist. It was put together about ten years ago to combat the growing threats from various Chinese sects, such as the triads and the Sing Wah. So you see I was really on assignment when I was working for Tan and Li Sung. We were trying to bring them down. Peter, I am sorry for having to shoot you, but if I did not my cover would have been blown. If you remember I did wait until your father was near and then I only grazed your arm."  
  
Caine smiled at this and said, "I always sensed something good about you, but it warred with the image that you were projecting so well that I had trouble telling which was true. How did you cover your true nature so well from a Shaolin priest?"  
  
With that Chan then turned to Caine and Peter and gave them the Shaolin salute and said, "I was also raised and taught in a Shaolin temple. Though I gained the right to take the brands, I have not yet done so. It could be a problem in my line of work. I will probably do so sometime in the future."  
  
Caine and Peter returned the salute.  
  
"You still didn't answer what you are doing here." said Karen.  
  
"Ah. The Ancient here had contacted me last week and asked me to try to track down the assassins and to ensure the safety of the emperor. The U.S. unofficially supports the emperor, though cannot do so publicly due to political reasons. As a result any rescue mission cannot have the support of the U.S. government. Unofficially though I will assist in any mission. He is after all my emperor as well." said Chan.  
  
Lo Si turned to Paul, "This is the reason that I asked you to come as well. Your reputation for success in any mission is well known Falcon. We would like to hire you to help lead a mission to rescue our young emperor. You will be well compensated for this. You may choose who you wish to accompany you on this mission and gather any equipment you feel necessary for it. We will cover any expenses."  
  
Paul stood there and considered the request for a moment and then spoke, "I would be honored to help out in any way that I can. I have never liked the communists in China, and I am sure the feeling is mutual. Also, this person is very important to two people that I am quite fond of. I will put my team together immediately and we will reconvene with you at the offices of Blaisdell & Griffin Investigations at two this afternoon."  
  
It was two p.m. on the dot when Lo Si walked into the detective agency. The receptionist directed him to the conference room. He walked in and closed the door.  
  
Paul got up from the table and addressed the group sitting around the table. "Ladies and gentleman, this is our client. Lo Si, this is most of my group." Sitting around the table were Kermit, Peter, Caine, Chan, John Durham and Blake. "The rest of my group is already in the field gathering information. They are Rykker and Steadman."  
  
"I see you are finally revealing yourself Detective Blake." said Lo Si.  
  
Peter, Caine and Chan all looked at Blake rather strangely. The rest of them seemed to know what The Ancient was talking about.  
  
"Don't let the nervous act fool you. I used to be a mercenary just like Paul and Kermit. Paul brought me onto the force the same way he did Kermit." said Blake.  
  
"Shaky Blake here is the finest electronic surveillance expert the business has ever seen." said Paul.  
  
"You have put together an impressive team Falcon, but I must insist on adding to it." said Lo Si.  
  
At just that moment Karen, Jody and Mary Margaret entered the conference room.  
  
"You see with these ladies help your entry into China will be easier. You can go in as a tour group. They get them all of the time. Also, these ladies have been doing quite a bit of training recently in skills that I believe that you will find useful before the mission is done. I also will be accompanying you. That is what I meant by helping to lead the rescue mission. I will allow you to plan and lead the mission, but if I feel that you have overlooked something I will point it out to you. Is this acceptable to you?"  
  
"Yes. I like your idea of the tour group and Peter has told me about this training. It is not my way, but if you feel it will help us I will follow your wisdom in this matter." said Paul.  
  
They spent the rest of the afternoon putting together a plan. John and Kermit spent most of that time on the computers gathering information and setting up false identities and travel plans. Rykker and Steadman had reported in and let them know where the emperor would be held when he arrived in China.  
  
When they were done Paul invited all of them to his house for dinner. They would be leaving in the morning.  
  
The next morning found Paul kissing Annie goodbye. They had talked privately last night about the mission. Though he had told her he would accept no more missions she had understood the importance of accepting this one. She was after all fond of Caine and of course she loved her foster son Peter. So if they were going to go any way the addition of Paul would only up the odds in their favor. She just prayed that they would be successful and that everyone would come home alive and well.  
  
Paul arrived at the airport and found his team already assembled near the ticket counter. Paul went up to the counter and checked his suitcase and got his ticket. He then went over to meet John and Blake. The way that they were going in was that Chan would act as the tour guide. The rest of them, except John, Blake and Paul, would be part of his tour. It would be three couples and a father and son team. Lo Si would act as Caine's elderly father. Paul, Blake and John who were standing a little bit away from them were going in as businessmen. They would meet up with Rykker and Steadman, who were also part of their "company", in Beijing. The two groups knew the plan and would not interact until after they were well ensconced in Beijing. In fact Paul, Blake and John would be sitting a few rows away, but within earshot if they needed to use code words to communicate with the rest of the team.  
  
They made their way along with other passengers up to the gate and boarded the plane. Soon they were winging their way towards China.  
  
After they arrived in Beijing they went through customs. They luckily made it through with little problems. In fact Lo Si was so charming with the female agent that she hardly questioned any body with the tour. Paul, Blake and John came through a few minutes later and told them they were here on business. They showed them the letters that they had reflecting the meetings that they had setup with a Chinese company. They got through with no problems.  
  
They all then caught taxis to their hotel. They were all staying at the same hotel. Paul, Blake and John were only on one floor below the rest of them.  
  
When they checked in they found a note from Rykker saying that he and Steadman were already in their room. After they made sure that they bellhop was long gone Blake got out his equipment and scanned the room for bugs. After giving the all clear he then carefully made his way up to the other rooms and repeated the procedure.  
  
That night after everyone took a nap to recharge and got some dinner in the hotel's restaurant they all met in Paul's room.  
  
"Ok everyone. I hope everyone is well rested because we have a long night ahead of us. Rykker and Steadman here have confirmed that the emperor is being kept where we expected. They saw him delivered there. Blake is going over with them now to find out where in the compound he is being kept. We will meet them there. Chan, you know where to take your "tour", right?" asked Paul.  
  
"Yes sir." replied Chan.  
  
"Good. Ok ladies and gentleman, try to stick to the plan. Remember the plane that is picking us up tomorrow morning at 5am will only be able to make one pass. If are not there then we will have to find another way out. If we get separated meet at the landing strip. Everyone must be there at 5am. The plane will not be able to stay on the ground for more than 15 minutes. Let's move out. We will regroup outside the compound."  
  
A half hour later found them all outside the gates to the compound. Lo Si was quietly talking to the three ladies and Kermit. "Remember, even if you loose your gun you will not be unarmed. Remember your lessons. They will be enough to get you through this. Peter and Kwai Chang have taught you well." All four of them bowed to Lo Si.  
  
While they were talking Blake, Rykker and Steadman had arrived and were talking with Paul and Chan.  
  
"Paul, they have him under heavy guard in the third building on the left. It is marked building 5. There are approximately twenty guards inside and outside of the building. They have left him to sleep after questioning him for several hours." said Blake.  
  
"There are twenty five guards. Fifteen of them are around the building at various intervals and the other ten are inside." said Caine.  
  
Paul looked over at Caine and nodded. He no longer questioned how Caine would know such a thing.  
  
"Alright everybody, gather round. Here is the situation. There are fifteen guards, heavily armed surrounding the building. It is the third one on the left. There are also ten of them on the inside." said Paul.  
  
"There are also five of them on the five buildings surrounding the building." said Peter.  
  
"Right. As I was saying, we will breakup into teams. Rykker and Steadman will take the north side. Blake and Jody will take the south. Mary Margaret and I will take the west. Kermit, Chan, Peter, Lo Si and Caine will take out the snipers first. Kermit and Chan will then join Karen on the east side. Caine join Mary Margaret and I, Peter join Jody and Blake, and Lo Si join Rykker and Steadman." said Paul.  
  
Everyone nodded his or her understanding and Paul continued.  
  
"Remember keep it as quiet as you can. We do not want to alert any of the other guards in the compound." ordered Paul.  
  
Everyone moved out and got into position. Then the five sniper removers moved in and quietly took out their assigned targets. They then joined their teams. At the same time all four teams moved in and took out the guards that were around the building. Then they formed into two larger groups and entered through the two doors into the building.  
  
They went from room to room taking out the guards. After all of the guards were taken out they then split up. Rykker, Steadman, Kermit and Blake went to clear their escape route while the rest of them went to free the emperor.  
  
Caine opened the door to the cell where Sing Ling was being kept. Peter rushed in and was almost clobbered by his majesty. When Sing Ling recognized Peter he grabbed him into a hug. Then they left the cell. Lo Si came over and quickly explained the situation to the emperor.  
  
They all quickly escaped out the back door and through the opening in the fence that they had made earlier. The guards that they had taken out were still lying there unconscious. They all quickly made it into the two military trucks that were waiting for them, with Rykker and Blake behind the wheels, and drove off into the night.  
  
When they were about five miles away they heard an explosion coming from the direction of the base. Steadman turned to the people in the truck and said, "I guess they won't be driving anywhere's anytime soon. That was the entire motor pool, including our two original vehicles.  
  
After that they sped quietly into the night. About four forty-five they arrived in Zhang Zhou province. They ditched the vehicles and quietly went on foot to the landing strip.  
  
As they got close soldiers suddenly surrounded them with automatics weapons pointing at them.  
  
Lo Si, Caine and Peter quickly concentrated and heated up all of the guns. As soon as this was done the three ladies and Kermit joined Lo Si and the Caines in knocking out the soldiers. Suddenly Kermit turned around and kicked out knocking the emperor aside. He immediately went down with a bullet wound in the arm. As soon as that happened Paul whipped around and put a bullet into the head of the Chinese officer that had been standing there with a pistol. It was obvious that he had been hidden when they had first been attacked and had tried to come up and assassinate the emperor while they were occupied.  
  
Rykker and Blake quickly picked up Kermit and they all ran to the landing strip. The plane had just landed and they only had a few minutes to get on board. They got on board and laid Kermit down in the aisle. Lo Si came over and started examining him. He then packed the wound with some herbs and stated that it would be ok until they got back to the U.S.  
  
Lo Si then turned to Karen who was standing by nervously and said, "Please stay by him and try to keep him as comfortable as possible. Do not worry child, he will survive this."  
  
While this was happening the plane had taken off and they were on their way home.  
  
When they arrived back in Sloanville an ambulance was waiting for them to take Kermit to the hospital. Karen rode with him. Paul had called ahead to have it waiting for them.  
  
A month had passed since the rescue mission. The emperor was now at another hidden safe house. Kermit recovered fine from his injury and was not having anymore of those dreams.  
  
It was now the day of the wedding. All three of the brides were at the Blaisdell residence. Annie had volunteered their house for them to get ready at. Kermit had gone over to Peter and Caine's for the same reason.  
  
Caine, Peter and Kermit were all down in the kwoon running through some exercises. This was to take some of the nervousness away.  
  
When they finished they went up to the apartments to get showered and dressed. After Caine finished getting dressed he walked down to Peter's to check on him and Kermit.  
  
"Well my son, are you ready for your big day? And how about you my friend?" said Caine.  
  
"I am as ready as I'll ever be." said Peter.  
  
"Oh Yeah." said Kermit.  
  
"Then we had better get going. We have only a half hour to get to the hotel. You both have everything. Tickets, rings, etc.?" said Caine.  
  
"Yes." said both of them.  
  
They drove over in Kermit's Corvair. Paul would be taking the Corvair back to Kermit's place later. They had three limos reserved to take them to the airport. This was the one part of it that they were not doing together. Karen and Kermit were going to Greece on their honeymoon. Peter and Jody were going to Hawaii. Caine and Mary Margaret were going on a Caribbean cruise.  
  
The three men stood at the front of the room with Lo Si. All of the guests were seated. Amongst the guests were most of the 101st precinct, the commissioner and the mayor. There were also many of the leading citizens of Chinatown there. Amongst them were the couple's families. These included Matthew Caine and Kwai Chang's half brother Martin Bradshaw.  
  
Suddenly the music began playing and all eyes went to the back of the room. Mary Margaret was the first to walk down on the arm of her father. Next was Jody, escorted by her father. Finally a very distinguished looking Paul Blaisdell escorted Karen down the aisle. There were many more tears at this as not many knew that Paul would be escorting Karen.  
  
The three brides took their places and Lo Si started the ceremony. After the prayers and blessings he turned to each couple and asked them to say their vows. When this was done he pronounced them all husbands and wives.  
  
The three couples then kissed to much oohing and aahing.  
  
Just before they were about to walk back down the aisle there was a commotion at the back of the room. Everyone turned around and gasped. There walking down the aisle towards the front was the Dahli Lama and Emperor Sing Ling, escorted by the emperor's guards.  
  
When they reached the front of the room they stopped in front of the couples and Lo Si. Caine, Peter and Lo Si all bowed to the emperor. Then Lo Si came forward and inquired as to their presence at the wedding.  
  
"I had one of my aides contact the Dahli Lama and arrange for his transportation here. I knew of his friendship with Kwai Chang Caine and wished that he be able to come to his wedding. Also, I wished to honor these individuals with my presence and bless their unions." said the emperor.  
  
With that the Dahli Lama blessed the unions of all three couples, followed by the emperor. After they were done the three couples bowed to them and then walked down the aisle. The emperor and the Dahli Lama, along with the guards and Lo Si, followed them. After them came the rest of the guests.  
  
An additional table was setup for the new arrivals at the reception. Paul made a few discrete calls and arranged for more security due to the special guests that had arrived.  
  
The three couples were sitting down for a while after the meal and talking with the emperor and the Dahli Lama.  
  
The emperor turned to Kermit and said, "Mr. Griffin, I wished to thank you once again for saving my life. I am glad to see that you have made a full recovery from your injury."  
  
"Thank you your majesty."  
  
"Also, I wish to repay my debt to you. Master Lo Si told me of the dreams that you had had prior to my kidnapping. He stated that you had wanted to know what they meant. With his help I have researched it and I believe I know what the first dream meant. It will also explain the later ones. The information that I have has come from a journal kept by my ancestor in the seventeenth century. As I believe you know your family has been in the mercenary business for a long time."  
  
"Yes, it has been sort of the family business."  
  
"Well, what you may not know is that one of your ancestors was Chinese. It appears that a man known as Jacob Griffin was traveling in China around 1650. While there he saved the life of my ancestor from an evil warlord that tried to assassinate him. In repayment for this act my ancestor offered him anything that he might want. The man relied that he would like the emperor's blessing to take a certain Chinese women as his wife. The women had been widowed four months earlier and since then had fallen in love with Jacob. The emperor agreed to this and they were wed. It was not until after the wedding that they realized that the woman was pregnant. The length of the pregnancy indicated that it was the women's slain first husband's child, not Griffin's. This did not matter to Jacob and he loved the child as if it were his own. They left China the next year, after the child had been born, and returned to his native Ireland."  
  
"You are right. I did not know that one of my ancestors was Chinese. But how does this explain the dreams?"  
  
"With the help of Master Lo Si and your friend Paul Blaisdell I discovered that this child, a son, was your direct ancestor. Also, the more important item was that we discovered who the man was that was the child's natural father. His name was Li Chung Caine. He was the younger brother of Kwai Chang Caine, a direct ancestor of both Kwai Chang and Peter Caine. He was also a Shaolin priest like his elder brother. Another interesting piece of this story is that he was murdered when he came across the same plot to assassinate the emperor that Jacob later foiled."  
  
Everyone that had heard this story looked stunned. They were surprised to learn that Kermit and the Caines were actually related.  
  
"Well, that certainly explains a lot." said Kermit.  
  
"Actually it explains more than you think." said Peter.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, you know those mercenary instincts that you refer to at times? They could very well be Shaolin senses. Also, back when I was on the force there were quite a few times that you seemed to appear out of nowhere when I was in trouble. I know that you probably figured it was just instinct, but it could have been that family connection. My family has always been well attuned to each other's well being."  
  
Kwai Chang turned to Kermit and his son, "You may be right Peter. Also, it would explain the way that Kermit sees you. I, as well as others, have seen for a long time now how you treat my son, Kermit. You treat him as a younger brother. This may be just because you see him as taking your brother David's place, or there may be more to it. You may have unconsciously recognized him as family. A person tends to be drawn towards family even when they are not consciously aware that the person is so. What ever the reason is I have always been grateful for the friendship and guidance that you have shown my son and consider you to be a member of my family."  
  
Kermit looked stunned at this revelation as well. On top of that he look kind of proud. Caine just said to him that even though he had not known before that he actually was family, he had considered him as such. He said to Caine and the emperor, "Thank you."  
  
After this the three couples danced and partied the night away. They then retired to the rooms that they had reserved at the hotel. They would be spending there wedding night here and would leave on their honeymoons in the morning.  
  
END 


End file.
